Chapter 387 She Regained Her Memory

Author’s POV

Traffic on the elevated highway was light.

Ryan was nearly at the main road leading to the hospital. One more intersection, and he would see the lit sign of Central Memorial Hospital.

But at that moment, his gaze snapped to the rearview mirror.

An unusually bright pair of headlights was closing in fast from behind.

This was no ordinary overtake. It was aimed directly at them.

Ryan’s expression darkened. He recognized the car instantly.

“Hold on!” he snapped.

Serena’s heart jolted. Before she could react, the car swerved violently to the right, narrowly dodging the first ram. The black sports car scraped past their rear bumper, tires screaming on the wet ground.

“Is that Cedric?” Serena’s face paled, real fear entering her voice for the first time.

Ryan didn’t answer—he had no time to.

The next second, the car turned and charged again, its headlights like two wild, out-of-control eyes locking onto them.

Ryan’s jaw tightened, his gaze grim. One hand gripped the wheel, the other slammed an internal communication button. His order was short and sharp: “Police. Trace my vehicle. Send units to the West District overpass immediately.”

He cut the line and accelerated.

Rain began to fall, dotting the windshield and blurring the view. The wipers flapped frantically, letting out a sharp, repetitive mechanical sound that beat on everyone’s nerves.

“Ryan…” Serena clutched her seatbelt tightly, her knuckles white.

She thought the worst of the night was over. Only now did she realize just how dangerous a cornered Cedric could be.

Ryan didn’t look at her, only said in a low voice, “Listen to me. Don’t look back. Don’t be scared. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His tone was almost calm, and that calmness suddenly made Serena’s nose sting.

In the rearview mirror, the car closed in again.

Cedric had clearly lost all reason. He no longer tried to force them to stop. He aimed straight for the side of their car.

CRASH—!

The deafening impact almost burst her eardrums.

Serena was slammed back into her seat by the seatbelt, sharp pain exploding in her shoulder and waist. The car skidded wildly off course, tires screeching against the ground, the rear spinning toward the guardrail. The world spun crazily before her eyes.

In that split second, something exploded deep inside her mind.

It wasn’t pain.It wasn’t fear.

It was memory.

Countless broken images flooded into her blank consciousness like a broken dam:

She saw the glittering church, herself in a white wedding dress, the man at the end looking at her tenderly. His eyes were gray-blue, his smile the one she knew best.

She saw the Quinn family dinner, Ethan helplessly covering for her with drinks, Maya linking arms with her as they mocked boring socialite parties, Zoe pretending to dislike her flashy dress while fixing her hair.

She saw Ryan handing her a design draft, whispering, “You’re always better than you think.” She saw them arguing over work, then hugging and making up late at night. She saw herself lying in his arms, placing a hand over her still-flat stomach, saying, “If it’s a girl, I hope she has your eyes.”

Then came the heavy rain, the coastal road, the car that had suddenly crashed into them.

She remembered.

She remembered everything.

“Ryan—!”

The scream was torn straight from her soul.

At the same time, Ryan wrenched the wheel in the opposite direction, trying to pull the car back from the edge. But the wet road and the force of the second collision left no room for control. The front crashed hard into the overpass guardrail, glass shattering around them. The world erupted into chaotic, piercing noise.

Time blurred. Maybe only seconds had passed, maybe an eternity.

The car finally stopped.

The air reeked of gasoline and the burnt smell of deployed airbags. Outside, distant brakes, screams, and approaching sirens blurred together.

Serena’s chest heaved. Her ears still rang from the crash. Warm liquid ran down her forehead; she touched it, and her fingertips came away bright red.

But she didn’t care about herself.

She twisted around sharply, staring at the driver’s seat.

Blood was running down Ryan’s forehead too. One side of his shoulder was torn and battered by the airbag and glass. But he hadn’t blacked out. He braced himself on the wheel, clinging to his last bit of consciousness. When he saw her turn, his first thought was not to check his own injuries, but to hoarsely ask, “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

Tears burst from Serena’s eyes.

The fire three years ago, her cold rejections over these three years—he had endured so much. Yet at the moment of life and death, his first instinct was still to protect her.

She reached for his face, her hand shaking violently.

“I remember…” she sobbed, tears falling one after another. “Ryan, I remember everything…”

Ryan froze completely.

Those few short words struck him harder than the crash itself.

Serena cried so hard she could barely speak, pressing her forehead against his shoulder, her voice trembling. “The wedding… the beach… the Quinn house… Rancy… I remember it all. I really do…”

Ryan stared at her. His gray-blue eyes went blank for a moment, then all the emotions he had suppressed for so long surged up like a tide. He lifted his uninjured hand and touched her tear-streaked face so gently, as if making sure this wasn’t a hallucination from blood loss.

“You remember.” His voice was rough, as if his throat was raw.

Serena nodded frantically, tears streaming down.

“I’m sorry…” she cried. “Ryan, I’m sorry I forgot you for so long…”

The composure in Ryan’s eyes finally shattered completely.

He closed his eyes, resting his forehead gently against hers, his voice a near whisper. “It’s okay.”

“You’re back.”

At that moment, hurried footsteps and shouts from rescue workers echoed from outside. Police and ambulance lights flashed into the car, painting the chaotic night pale white.

Not far away, Cedric’s car had also crashed into the roadside, its front completely crushed. Police forced open the door. The man sat behind the wheel, blood on his forehead, his eyes still fixed fiercely on Ryan’s car—like a trapped beast that had lost everything but still refused to close his eyes.

But this time, he would never get close to them again.

As rescue workers pried open the car door, Ryan instinctively tried to help Serena out first. But she clung tightly to his hand, as if afraid he would disappear from her life again if she let go.

“I’m not leaving.” Her voice shook with tears, but her resolve was firm. “I’m not losing you again.”

Ryan looked at her, and the empty place in his chest that had haunted him for three years finally, slowly, truly filled up.

Sirens, ambulance bells, rain, and shouts tangled together, chaotic as the end of the world. But amid the wreckage and danger, Serena had finally found herself—and the man she had truly loved, and still loved.

And everything that belonged to Cedric finally came to an end this night.